Personal audio sound reproduction equipment is well known in the art, including both over-ear external headphones typically employing a headband or similar support structure and smaller in-ear earphones usually inserted into a user's ear canal. Due to diminished size and weight, relative ease of manufacture at lower cost, and with an audio fidelity equal to or better than headphones, earphones are frequently preferred over headphones for everyday use and are particularly suited for travel, when engaging in sports activities or during any activity for which headphones are disfavored.
Users desire earphones to be suited for a particular purpose (e.g., when jogging, bike riding, or during other sports) as well as harmonize aesthetically with attire and accessories (e.g., watches, jewelry, eyeglasses, etc.). For this reason users frequently purchase multiple sets of earphones to suit individual activities. Owning multiple sets is both, expensive and impractical. Purchasing multiple over-ear headphones is likewise cost prohibitive
Earphones have evolved into a wide variety of body designs, including variations in shape, color, and comprise a wide variety of materials. While purchasing multiple earphones is preferred over purchasing multiple headphones, coordinating, managing, and organizing numerous earphones is a problem. Keeping track of many individual earphone sets is difficult as they are frequently inadvertently lost and have a tendency to tangle if two or more sets are stored together.
Another problem with maintaining numerous sets of differently shaped earphones is the redundancy of their common parts. While a variety of external designs may be desired, the plugs, wires, transducers and other internal components are unnecessarily duplicated.
There is therefore a need for an earphone capable of a wide variety of external designs having a single operational set of wires, plug, and earphone body. The need also exists for an earphone allowing users to quickly and easily select and switch between different designs as desired. There is also a need for an earphone offering multiple designs that is easy to manufacture and therefore less expensive. These and other problems in the art are addressed by an earphone with an interchangeable housing as shown and described in the following summary, description, and claims.